Carriage-type drawing apparatus



Sept. 10, 1968 Filed Feb. 3,

T. L. FAUL CARRIAGE- TYPE DRAWING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnventqr EMficawz Sept. 10, 1968 T. L. FAUL CARR IAGE TYPE DRAWING APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb.

lnventon W 67% United States Patent 3,400,461 CARRIAGE-TYPE DRAWINGAPPARATUS Thomas L. Faul, Skaneateles, N.Y., assignor to Albert NestlerA.G., Lahr, Black Forest, Germany Filed Feb. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 613,783Claims priority, application 4G6ermany, Apr. 28, 1966,

4 Claims. 61. 33-79 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present inventionrelates to a carriage-type drawing apparatus which is provided with afirst guide rail which is adapted to be secured to a drawing board andalong which a first carriage is movable which carries a locking devicefor locking this carriage in a fixed position to said first guide rail,and with a second guide rail which is secured to the first carriage andextends at right angles to the first guide rail and parallel to thedrawing board and along which a second carriage is movable which islikewise provided with a locking device and to which a drafting head isconnected.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a carriage-typedrawing apparatus of the above-mentioned type which is designed so as topermit this apparatus and especially the locking devices thereof to bemanipulated as easily as possible.

A feature of the invention for attaining this object consists inproviding the control means for operating the locking device of thefirst carriage in the form of a control rod which is guided by thesecond guide rail so as to be movable in the longitudinal directionthereof. This control rod permits the locking device of the firstcarriage to be operated at any desired point of the second guide rail.Since the locking device for the second carriage is provided directly onthis carriage and the control member for actuating the locking device ofthe second carriage is located directly adjacent to this carriage, thecontrol means for actuating both locking devices are located within easyreach of each other and may therefore be easily manipulatedsimultaneously by the same hand.

In order to permit the locking device of the first car- I riage to beoperated by the control rod with as little effort as possible, thislocking device is provided in the form of a lever which is pivotablymounted on the first carriage and carries a brake shoe which, when thecontrol rod is shifted in one direction to its locking position, ispressed against the first guide rail by the action of a cam plate whichis rotatably mounted on a connecting bracket between the second guiderail and the first carriage and pivotably connected to the control rod.When the control rod is not actuated, the brake lever carrying the brakeshoe is pivoted by the action of a spring so as to disengage the brakeshoe from the first guide rail.

For guiding the control rod so as to be movable as easily as possible,the second guide rail may be provided with a longitudinal groove inwhich the control rod is slidable.

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The features and advantages of the present invention will become moreclearly apparent from the following detailed description thereof whichis to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichFIGURE 1 shows an elevation of a drawing board which is provided with acarriage-type drawing apparatus according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows a side view of the drawing apparatus according to FIGURE1 in which the first guide rail is shown in cross section;

FIGURE 3 shows an elevation of a part of the first carriage andillustrates the construction of the brake lever;

FIGURE 4 shows, partly in section, a top view of a part of the drawingapparatus according to FIGURES 1 to 3;

FIGURE 5 shows a cross section which is taken along the line VV ofFIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 shows a cross section which is taken along the line VI-VI ofFIGURE 2; while FIGURE 7 shows an elevation of a part of the firstcarriage and of a brake lever according to a modification of theinvention.

The carriage-type drawing apparatus according to the invention asillustrated in the drawings comprises a first guide rail 3 which isconnected to a drawing board 1 and provided with a pair of opposite railtracks 23 for the rollers 5 of a first carriage 7 which carries a secondguide rail 9 which extends at right angles to the first guide rail 3 andcarries a second pair of rail tracks for the rollers, not shown, of asecond carriage 11 which are similar to the rollers 5. This secondcarriage 11 is connected to and carries a drawing head 17 by means of abridge 15 which is pivotable about an axis 13 extending parallel to thesecond guide rail 9.

Both guide rails 3 and 9 form sections of suitable lengths which are cutfrom the same hollow rail stock which has a cross-sectional shape asillustrated particularly in FIGURES 5 and 6 and is generally designatedby the numeral 19 and has a pair of parallel rail tracks 23 integrallyconnected to one side thereof by webs 21. These rail tracks 23 engageinto peripheral grooves in the rollers 5. The opposite narrow sides ofthe rails are provided with recesses 37 of a T-shaped cross section towhich other elements may be connected.

The first carriage 7 is secured to the second guide rail 9 by means of aconnecting bracket 46 which, in turn, is pivotably connected to thefirst carriage 7 by pivot pin 42 so as to be pivotable about the axisthereof Which extends parailel to the first guide rail 3. As shown inFIG- URE 4, this connecting bracket 40 is provided with a pair ofopposite claws 44 which embrace the narrow sides of the second guiderail 9. By means of screws, not shown, which are inserted into bores 46,claws 44 may be con nected to clamping plates, not shown, which engageinto the T-shaped recesses 37 of guide rail 9 so that, when the screwsare tightened, the connecting bracket 40 will be rigidly secured to thesecond supporting rail 9. For locking the first carriage 7 in a fixedposition, it carries a brake lever 48 which is pivotable about a pin 50which extends at a right angle to the plane of the drawing board 1.Brake lever 48 carries on its free end a brake shoe 52 which is adaptedto engage upon the first guide rail 3. At the inside of the connectingbracket 40 adjacent to the free end of lever 48 carrying the brake shoe52, a cam plate 54 which is adapted to act upon the lever 48 and thebrake shoe 52 thereon is pivotably mounted on a pin 56 which extendsparallel to the longitudinal axis of the first guide rail 3. Lever 48 isacted upon by a compression spring 48 which tends to pivot this lever toa position in which the brake shoe 52 is disengaged from the first guiderail 3.

The T-shaped recess 37 in the right side of guide rail 9 facing thedrawing head 17, as shown in FIGURE 1, has a control rod 58 slidabletherein. The control rod 58, as shown in FIGURE 6 has a T-shaped crosssection and its central web 60 fits into a longitudinal recess in slideblocks 62 of plastic which are likewise of a T-shaped cross section andare secured to the central web 60 by pins, not shown, and are slidableby the control rod '58 in the longitudinal direction of the T-shapedrecess 37. The outer surface of the main web of control rod 58 isprovided with a knurling 64 which may either be cut or pressed directlyinto the control rod 58 which preferably consists of light metal or maybe provided by securing a knurled layer of plastic or rubber to theouter surface of the main web of the control rod 58.

The upper end of control rod 58 is connected by means of a rod 66 withrectangularly bent ends to one end of a two-armed lever 68 which ispivotable within the connecting member 40 about an axis 72 which extendsparallel to the first guide rail 3. The other end of lever 68 ispivotably connected to cam plate 54 by means of a pin 78 which issecured to the end of the cam plate and engages into a notch in the endof lever 68.

In order to permit inaccuracies of manufacture of the associated partsand the wear upon brake shoe 52 to be compensated, cam plate 54 isadjustably mounted On its pivot pin 56 by means of an eccentric washeror roller 80.

The second carriage 11 is provided with a brake mechanism, not shown,which is similar to that as above described. The brake lever of thissecond brake mechanism is connected to and adapted to be actuated by acontrol lever 88, as shown in FIGURE 1.

In order to lock the second guide rail 9 in any desired position alongthe first guide rail 3 regardless of the position of the second carriage11 on guide rail 9, the brake mechanism of the first carriage 7 may beactuated by means of the control rod 58 which is always locatedimmediately adjacent to the control lever 38 of the brake mechanism ofthe second carriage 11 so that both brake mechanisms may always beoperated very easily by the same hand.

For properly guiding the connecting rod 66, the rail stock 19 isprovided immediately adjacent to each T- shaped recess with anotherrecess 90. This recess 90 is provided adjacent to each T-shaped recess37 in order to permit the drawing apparatus to be easily converted so asto permit it to be used either by right-handed or lefthanded persons.

The cam surface of cam plate 54 is designed in relation to its axis 56so that a self-locking effect will occur between the cam plate and thebrake shoe and the cam plate therefore cannot be turned by the lever 48by the force of spring 48'. If therefore the control rod 58 is moved toits locking position, brake shoe 52 cannot disengage automatically fromthe guide rail 3 but only when the control rod 58 is shifted by hand.

In order to prevent the control rod also from shifting automatically dueto its own weight when the drawing board is pivoted to an angularposition, the slide blocks 62 are designed so as to produce a sufficientfriction between the control rod 58 and the walls of the T-shaped recess37 which will insure that the control rod, even though it may be easilyshifted, will be held in any position to which it has been adjusted.

While the brake lever 48 as illustrated in FIGURE 3 is a one-armedlever, FIGURE 7 shows a modification in which a two-armed lever 148 isprovided which carries the brake shoe 152 on the end of one arm, whilethe end of the other arm forms an abutment upon which a control member154 engages which is connected to the control rod 58. Of course, insteadof the compression spring 48' as shown in FIGURE 3, a tension spring148' is in this case connected to the brake lever 148.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a carriage-type drawing apparatus having a first guide railadapted to be secured to a drawing board, a first carriage movable alongand guided 'by said first guide rail, first locking means on said firstcarriage adapted to engage upon said first guide rail for locking saidfirst carriage to said first guide rail in any position to which it maybe moved along the same, a second guide rail secured to said firstcarriage and extending at right angles to said first guide rail andparallel to said drawing board, a second carriage movable along andguided 'by said second guide rail, a drawing head connected to saidsecond carriage, and second locking means on said second carriage forlocking said second carriage to said second guide rail in any positionto which it may be moved along the same, wherein the improvementcomprises separate control means for actuating said first and secondlocking means and located closely adjacent to each other so as to permitboth control means to be operated simultaneously by the same handregardless of the positions to which said carriages are moved, saidcontrol means for actuating said first locking means comprises a controlrod guided by and movable in the longitudinal direction of said secondguide rail for moving said first locking means from a released positionto a locking position, a lever pivotably mounted on said first carriageand having a brake shoe thereon adapted to press against said firstguide rail, said lever and said brake shoe forming said first lockingmeans, a connecting bracket secured to said second guide rail and tosaid first carriage, a cam plate rotatably mounted on said bracket andpivotably connected to said control rod and adapted to act upon saidlever when said control rod is shifted to its locking position, andspring means acting upon said lever so as to disengage said brake shoefrom said first guide rail when said control rod is moved to itsreleasing position.

2. In a drawing apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said secondguide rail has a recess extending in the longitudinal direction thereof,said control rod engaging into said recess and being guided by the wallsthereof.

3. In a drawing apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said cam platehas a peripheral surface adapted to act upon said lever and extending inrelation to the axis of rotation of said cam plate so as to benonrotatable by the action of said spring means when said control rod islocated in its locking position.

4. In a carriage-type drawing apparatus having a first guide railadapted to be secured to a drawing board, a first carriage movable alongand guided by said first guide rail, first locking means on said firstcarriage adapted to engage upon said first guide rail for locking saidfirst carriage to said first guide rail in any position to which it maybe moved along the same, a second guide rail secured to said firstcarriage and extending at right angles to said first guide rail andparallel to said drawing board, a second carriage movable along andguided by said second guide rail, a drawing head connected to saidsecond carriage, and second locking means on said second carriage forlocking said second carriage to said second guide rail in any positionto which it may be moved along the same, wherein the improvementcomprises separate control means for actuating said first and secondlocking means and located closely adjacent to each other so as to permitboth control means to be operated simultaneously by the same handregardless of the positions to which said carriages are moved, saidguide rails being of rectangular shape and including parallel railtracks integrally connected therewith and disposed on one side of saidguide rails, said control means for actuating said first locking meanscomprises a control rod guided by and received in a longitudinal recessof said second guide rail for moving said first locking means from areleased position to a locking position,

said longitudinal recess being disposed at a narrow side of said secondguide rail, said control rod having an accessible outer gripping faceextending outwardly from said recess, and gripping means secured on saidouter gripping face of said control rod and extending along the lengthof said second carriage and designed for manual operation of saidcontrol rod, said gripping means being so dimensioned and arranged onsaid narrow side of the rail so as not to interfere with the movement ofsaid second carriage.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,102,636 12/1937 McDonald 33-793,153,284 10/1964 Harris 33-79 3,279,073 10/ 1966 Ardito et a1 33-79HARRY N. HAROIAN, Primary Examiner.

